Ofcom has today invited applications for community radio licences in Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of the second round of licence applications and awards.
Ofcom first invited applications for community radio licences in September 2004, and finished this initial round of licensing in May 2006. 107 groups were awarded a licence in that phase.
To help prepare for the current round of licensing, Ofcom invited groups interested in applying for a community radio licence to let them know by sending a ‘letter of intent’. By the closing date in April, Ofcom had received over 180 such letters from all over the United Kingdom, with recognition that there may be more potential applicant groups than those that submitted a ‘letter of intent’. Ofcom have used these to help them decide how to plan the next round of licensing.
In order to deal with a large volume of applications in a timely manner, Ofcom has decided that it would be more appropriate to invite applications for the second round of licensing for community radio on a region-by-region basis, rather than from all over the UK at the same time.
The closing date for applications in the Northern Ireland and Scotland regions is 16 January 2007.